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H&M X BALMAIN

Fashion News|November 2, 2015

With 17 international labels – including Versace, Marni and Karl Lagerfeld – already having come on board, H&M’s designer collaboration is one of the most eagerly anticipated events in the fashion calendar. Queues snake around the block on the morning a new collaboration drops into stores and the collection itself will sell out within hours – it was claimed that the Versace collaboration sold out in 30 minutes.

And now the 18th tie-up has been announced and it is perhaps the most intriguing so far. Balmain is most famous for its beautifully crafted (and eye-wateringly expensive) haute couture pieces and so is perhaps not the first label most people would imagine partnering with the mighty Swedes. But the result might surprise you.

We’ve already gotten quite a few sneak peeks at the hyped-up Balmain for H&M collaboration. Kendall Jenner and Jourdan Dunn wore pieces from collection to the Billboard Music Awards back in May, followed by the release of an ad campaign with Gigi Hadid in September. The lookbook was released officially last week — but not before someone leaked its contents on Instagram.

Well now, the mystery is over. We got our hands on images of every last piece that will be for sale when the collaboration hits stores on Nov. 5th. This is not H&M’s cheapest collaboration, with a few items surpassing the £300 mark.

But there are still plenty of items under £100 for those with champagne taste on a beer budget, or, you know, Balmain taste on an H&M budget.

Prepare to fall in love with Olivier Rousteing

At just 29 years-old and already the creative director of an established fashion house, Olivier Rousteing is a trailblazer in the fashion industry – and he’s also extremely lovable. In the latest interview clip released by H&M in anticipation of the collaboration launch he speaks about what fashion means to him. “I was in an orphange, I didn’t know my parents,” he says.
“…so I always used clothes to actually identify myself. When you wear clothes, you create a world, you create your own world. I think Balmain today is a vision of the new world.”

“I think confidence is the most important thing. But also I think sexy and powerful,” he adds. “I think Balmain DNA is all about unique, and I can’t express how much I’m so excited and how much I enjoy it.”

What is most delightful about Rousteing, as comes across in this clip, is his love of fashion – he doesn’t take it too seriously, and that’s exactly what it should be about. (It also helps that he has cheekbones that could slice ice and a pout to make Rosie Huntington-Whiteley jealous, of course.) Anyway, prepare to see a lot more of this young man over the coming months and to love him a little bit more each time.